It's No Mystery: Fans of Suspense and Thriller Books Will Enjoy This Service!
Written: Jul 11 '06 (Updated Oct 24 '06)
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Book clubs, with their offers of several books at almost no cost, are easy to get sucked into and this is especially true since the invention of the internet. In the old days, you had to look for an offer in a magazine and choose books from a limited selection. Today, a person can utilize the internet and join several clubs in a matter of minutes. One club that I have joined and rejoined a few times is Mysteryguild.com, a book club for those who like reading mystery and suspense books.
What Does This Service Offer?:
Mystery Guild is a book club designed for those who like to read mystery novels. The site sells books in categories like Classic Mystery, Anthology, Historical, Horror, In the Movies, Thriller/Suspense, and others. There are a few non-fiction books in this site that deal, of course, with the subject of mysteries- usually true crime stories and the investigations that followed them. But the bulk of the books in this web site are fictional.
Besides books, Mystery Guild does have a merchandise section where mystery fans can purchase such items as a Mystery Guild mouse pad, book lovers t- shirt, book lovers clock, book lovers journal, etc. There are even some items for sale that have nothing to do with books or mystery, like a heated auto seat cushion, sleeping cat wall clock, Texas Hold ‘em Poker set, and various other assorted merchandise.
How the Club Works:
Mystery Guild has an introductory offer that is similar to other book clubs. New members receive six books at a cost of 99 cents plus shipping with the agreement to buy a few more books in the future at regular club prices. With shipping added, the introductory package costs a total of about $14.00. Future purchases of books will cost in the neighborhood of $12 to $25 each plus shipping charges. Mystery Guild requires that four more books be purchased to fulfill this membership agreement.
Each month, Mystery Guild mails a catalog that displays some highlighted books along with other special offers from Mystery Guild’s affiliate businesses. Members can purchase books from this catalog or log into the web site, browse through the titles, and make a purchase on- line. Purchases of new books earn points that can be used to get free books once the required number of points has been accumulated.
Like other book clubs, Mystery Guild also has a selection of the month. If you want the selection of the month, you need not do anything- it will ship automatically in a couple of weeks. If members don’t want the selection of the month, they must return the card with the appropriate box checked or logon to their account using mysteryguild.com and cancel the selection of the month on- line.
Customer Service:
Customer service at Mystery Guild can be reached by calling 717-918-2665 between the hours of 8am and 5pm Eastern Time. You can also logon to the site and find answers to questions, check your account balance, pay for books/merchandise, etc. And there is a place within the contact section to send an e-mail message with a specific question if you cannot find the answer you’re looking for.
Final Thoughts:
Mystery Guild is yet another book club that I have been a member of both in the present and in the past. I first joined Mystery Guild many years ago when it was administered strictly as a mail- order company. I didn’t think about this club for a long time until I received an e-mail offer asking that I consider joining this club on- line. I was looking for some gifts to buy anyway, so I decided I would sign up and give the club another try.
Mystery Guild’s on- line presence is very much like the other book clubs and its web site looks and functions in a similar way. It is owned by Doubleday, which also owns other on- line book clubs and you can see the similarities in the web sites the moment you logon. Books can be searched by keyword or, if you’re not sure what you want and would like to browse, you can select a subject on the left side of the home page and scan through the books in that category. Each time you browse a subject, the books are sorted in best- selling order. If you like, you can change the order to sort alphabetically (A to Z or Z to A) or by publication date.
The selection at Mystery Guild is actually not too bad when you consider that it concentrates its selection on mystery- related literature. You won’t find as many mystery books in this site as you will in a book superstore like Amazon.com but the selection is pretty good and it should satisfy mystery lovers for a long time. The one bad thing about the selection is that there is almost no non- fiction books. The few that exist are typically books about organized crime and specific incidents of missing persons or murdered individuals. If you click on the non- fiction link, you will discover that there are about fifteen total selections- a dismal number for someone like me who only reads non- fiction books. However, you need to keep in mind that Mystery Guild has more non- fiction books than what you see in this link. If there is another category that provides a better fit for a specific non- fiction book, then Mystery Guild will place it there. For example, the section titled “In the Movies” often has a few non- fiction books. If a movie was based on a true story, then there is a good chance you will find the non- fiction book here rather than in the non- fiction section. I wish Mystery Guild would find a better way to arrange the books so that non- fiction reader like me can find what I want in a single category. But this is the way it works at this time.
The greatest disadvantage of this book club is the fulfillment requirement. You have to buy four books over a period of three years to complete the enrollment agreement. Mystery lovers will likely have no problem finding four books to buy over this period of time, but four books is a greater number than most other book clubs require. Some clubs require no books at all; some require one; and several require two. But you don’t find many clubs that require purchasing four books and this is something to consider if you decide to join. Sale priced books and general merchandise doesn’t count toward your fulfillment. Full priced selections are the only ones that count and they cost an average of about $18 (with a range from about $12 to $25). Add in the shipping charges of about $2 to $4 per book (depending on how many you order at a time: $4 for the first book, $2 for each additional book in the same order) and you can end up with a fairly large bill to satisfy your enrollment agreement.
Like most every other book club, Mystery Guild puts its members through the annoying selection of the month routine: A featured book that is automatically shipped to you if you forget to decline it. If you get a selection of the month sent to you by mistake, you can mark “return to sender” on the box and ship it back free of charge as long as the box is unopened. If you must open the box, do it carefully and do it in such a way that you can easily glue it shut again, making it look like it was never opened. This will save you from paying shipping charges. And to cancel the selection of the month, Mystery Guild does provide a means to decline it via the on- line site, eliminating the need to mail back the card and saving you the cost of a stamp. This helps, but it would be really nice if Mystery Guild and other book clubs would eliminate the selection of the month feature completely.
Mystery Guild does offer a few perks for members, like two free books every time you refer a new member to the club and that new member joins and is accepted. This, along with special offers for reduced rate books, can make the cost of membership worthwhile. Mystery Guild is pretty good at shipping books in a timely manner and they do offer a good selection of mystery books for those who love a good suspense thriller or similar book. The membership fulfillment requirement of four books is more than most other clubs but the cost per book, the shipping, and other fees are similar to other clubs.
Overall, Mystery Guild is a decent book club and I have no regrets with my recent membership. I don’t read fiction, but I do buy books as gifts and I got what I want with Mystery Guild. I probably won’t join again once my enrollment agreement is completed due to the shortage of non- fiction titles. But Mystery Guild is still a good book club with a nice selection of mystery books. Fans of this genre of writing will find Mystery Guild a very nice place to browse for book titles and to build their home book collection.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews of Book- Related Web Sites:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books- A- Million
Zooba
Doubleday Book Club
Amazon Marketplace
Half.com
History Book Club
Recommended:
Yes
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